Site-specific theatre is a

theatrical production A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...

that is performed at a unique, specially adapted location other than a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. This unique site may have been built without any intention of serving theatrical purposes (for example, a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

, or converted building). It may also simply be an unconventional space for theatre (for example, a

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

). Site-specific theatre seeks to use the properties of a unique site's landscape, rather than a typical theatre stage, to add depth to a theatrical production. Sites are selected based on their ability to amplify storytelling and form a more vivid backdrop for the actors in a theatrical production. A performance in a traditional theatre venue that has been transformed to resemble a specific space (for example, a junkyard), can also be considered as site-specific, as long as it no longer has the functionality (i.e. seats, stages) that a traditional theatre would have. Site-specific theatre is commonly more interactive than conventional theatre and may be called Promenade Theatre in cases where the audience is expected or encouraged to walk or move about the venue. Site-specific theatre frequently takes place in structures originally built for non-theatrical reasons that have since been renovated or converted for new, performance-based functions. Definitions of site-specific theatre are complicated by its use in both theatre studies and visual art, where it is also referred to as site-specific performance.

Examples

Examples of site-specific theatre include: * ''Storming Mont Albert By Tram'' 1982 https://www.theatreworks.org.au/archive-feature-storming-mont-albert-by-tram-1982/ the first play to be staged on a moving tram was produced by the Australian company TheatreWorks. Audiences were immersed as fellow passengers with various characters who entered and left the tram at regular stops along the way. The production was staged eight times over a dozen years on trams in Melbourne and Adelaide and helped launch an outbreak of site-specific theatre in Melbourne which lasted throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. * ''Breaking Up In Balwyn'' (1983) https://paulmichaeldavies.com/breaking%20up%20in%20balwyn/ this was a play staged as a divorce party set and performed on “The Yarra Princess” – a riverboat sailing along Melbourne’s Yarra River. The audience were especially invited as the “very best friends” of gay divorcee, Samantha Hart-Byrne. The celebration, however, was disrupted by the arrival of her ex-husband (disguised as a “gorilla-gram”) and by a visit (raid) by the Income Tax Evasion Squad. *''Living Rooms'' (1986) https://www.theatreworks.org.au/archive-feature-living-rooms-1986/ Through scenes enacted in various rooms of “Linden”, a large St Kilda mansion, Living Rooms traces the social and cultural progress of the building from family mansion, to boarding house, to contemporary art gallery. Audiences moved through the building in small groups where they witnessed the lives of the imaginary characters who resided in Linden at key moments in its history. *''Full House/No Vacancies'' (1989) https://paulmichaeldavies.com/full-house-no-vacancies/ Using a similar site-specific template to Living Rooms (moving audience groups from room to room), ''Full House/No Vacancies'' was also staged in various bedrooms of a typical boarding house in St. Kilda in the late 1980s. The building (the “Linga Longa” boarding house) was facing demolition and massive over-development that would have seen all its tenants summarily evicted. However, working collectively, the tenants (a prostitute, a failed stand-up comedian and a retired actress) manage to expose the developer and save their home. * ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'', as part of Richard Wagner's philosophy of ''

Gesamtkunstwerk A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, literally 'total artwork', translated as 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of al ...

'', was written specifically to be performed inside the

Bayreuth Festspielhaus The ''Bayreuth Festspielhaus'' or Bayreuth Festival Theatre (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspielhaus, ) is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, built by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and dedicated solely to the performa ...

. Wagner at one time also considered performing the opera only once, and destroying all music, sets, and other paraphernalia following its completion. * Ferry Play, a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

play for the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. * Psycho-So-Matic, and Downsize, staged by Chicago's Walkabout Theatre in a laundromat and a series of public restrooms, respectively.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fund
staged by Women's Project in the lobbies, escalators, and bridges of New York's World Financial Centre. *

Supernatural Chicago Neil Tobin (born July 7, 1966) is a magical and psychic entertainer, theatre producer and playwright, and a writer on related subjects. Since his performance material often involves themes of mortality and spirit contact—in addition to demonstra ...

, staged in an allegedly haunted nightclub. * Small Metal Objects, staged by Australia's Back To Back Theatre at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal. * Little Shop of Horrors: a production of the musical was presented at Bool's Flower Shop in Ithaca, New York on April 24, 2019. The production was produced by Jacob Stuckelman and featured local Ithaca artists. During the summer of 2018, after sitting on the idea for several months, Producer Jacob Stuckelman committed to creating a fully staged production of Little Shop of Horrors inside a flower shop, a concept that had never been seen before. * Ragtime On Ellis Island, a concert musical, was presented on Ellis Island on August 8, 2016 in an area that is not usually used for performances. * Sweeney Todd: When the Tooting Arts Club production transferred off Broadway, the group transformed the Barrow Street Theatre into a working re-creation of Harrington's pie shop. This is an example of immersive theatre, as they built into a pre-existing space; it is not considered a found space. * The Site-Specific Theatre Bot
@TheatreSite
is an automated Twitter 'bot' that tweets out ideas for imagined site-specific performances. *

A Midnight Visit ''A Midnight Visit'' is an Australian multi-sensory immersive theatre experience based upon the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The audience walks at their own pace through a variety of theatrically designed rooms featuring adult concepts, uneven floo ...

, staged in abandon warehouses across Australia and based upon the works of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

. The

Ramlila Ramlila (Rāmlīlā) (literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' or secondary literature based on it such as the ''Ramcharitmanas''. It particularly ...

, a dramatic enactment of the Hindu history

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

, could be considered a type of site-specific theatre. Started in 1830 by

Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh was the eldest surviving son of Maharaj Mahip Narayan Singh, Udit Narayan Singh Sahib Bahadur (1770 – 4 April 1835, r. 12 September 1795 – 4 April 1835) became the new king of Benares. He was a nationalist and a b ...

of Varanasi, it is held each year over a period of 31 days during the autumn festive season of

Dussehra Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...

Ramnagar, Varanasi Ramnagar is a city, just outside of Varanasi city and a municipal board in Varanasi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ramnagar has a fort known as Ramnagar Fort which is still the residence of King of Varanasi (Benares). He was kn ...

in India. The Ramlila is staged in permanent structures created as sets throughout the three square mile area where the audience follow the actors. The Ramlila was declared by the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as a

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

in 2005.Ramlila - the Traditional Performance of the Ramayana
''

''. Following on from the remarkable success of TheatreWorks’ ''Storming Mont Albert By Tram'' in 1982, an outbreak of site-specific theatre took place across Melbourne throughout the 1980s. This saw the production of further plays on trams (''Storming St. Kilda by Tram, Storming Glenelg by Tram'') riverboats (''Breaking Up In Balwyn''), busses (''Bus, Son of Tram'') houses (''Fefu and Her Friends, Living Rooms, Full House/No Vacancies, Looking In, Looking Out'') pubs (''The Pub Show'') a cinema (''D J View'') a woollen mill (''The Wool Game'') a nursing home (''Vital Signs'' ) a football club dressing room (''Not Waving)'' a scout hall (''In Cahoots'') a prison (''Hard Labour, Mate'') as well as shopping centres, camping grounds, parks and gardens (''The Go Anywhere Show, Wind in the Willows''). Much of this work is documented in ''Really Moving Drama – Taking Theatre for a Ride'' (2016) ISBN 9781534866751; ''Staging the World – Theatre In the Space Age'' (Adventures in Site-Specific Performance) ISBN 9780648599890; and ''A Short History of TheatreWorks'' (1979 to 1994) ISBN 9780648900207 Site-specific theatre can also include environmental theatre, a production that attempts to immerse the audience in the performance by bringing the action off the stage area. For example, some acting may happen in aisles. In the case of

black box theatre A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

, acting platforms may even be built between audience sections. Sometimes a performer will talk to or otherwise involve an audience member in a scene. This can be a real audience member, as in

interactive theatre Interactive theatre is a presentational or theatrical form or work that breaks the "fourth wall" that traditionally separates the performer from the audience both physically and verbally. In traditional theatre, performance is limited to a desig ...

, or a confederate actor planted to appear as an audience member. There are variations on site-specific theatre, including but not limited to: *Found space theatre, in which a pre-existing production is placed in an environment similar to the one in which the play is set (for example, performing Hamlet in a Danish Castle). *Promenade theatre, in which audience members stand and walk about rather than sit, watching the action happening among them and even following the performers around the performance space.

Examples

References

Related reading